The mystery of the crosses inclined: Martin Garcia island.



I spent several days on the island of Martin Garcia with friends. The idea was to stay at least 5 days in a tent so we were quite prepared and brought my camera. On the second day we went to visit the place and we come to the local cemetery with these mysterious crosses. He walked around a villager-the "Basque" - with which we began to talk and we acted as a guide: we counted the various legends about these crosses from which I had no idea existed, and show it you in this post, both the images of the crosses and the various legends.









I tell you briefly about the history of the island that you need to read to go and check weather, as it has been a place where many battles were fought and where many people died, which is related to the mysteries of the crosses.



Aerial photo of the island of Martin Garcia (taken from the web to have an overview of what is in dimensions very small).



History and relevant facts: This is a very old place located at the confluence of the Uruguay River to the Rio de la Plata, 8 kms. the Uruguayan town of Martín Chico, but belonging to Argentina (or at least in part). It was discovered by the expedition of Juan Díaz de Solís in 1516 and is named after the steward of the expedition, Martin Garcia, who died on board and whose body was left on the island. From that time the island was disputed by Spain and Portugal permanently due to its strategic position in the middle of the main river channel and as a gateway to its main tributaries, the rivers Parana and Uruguay.

Since 1765 worked as a prison and place of detention. The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, the first viceroy, Pedro de Cevallos, and became the fortified garrison. In 1814, Admiral William Brown, commanding a fleet, landed on the island and defeated the royalists leaving the island in the hands of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata.

Site of other battles during the independence of Argentina and Brazil called War and War gives Argentine sources Cisplatin by Brazilian historiography. In 1838, during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas in the province of Buenos Aires, Martin Garcia was also attacked by Anglo-French forces and later occupied by allied forces Montevideo Unitarian exiles. In 1843 it was recovered by federal troops of Rosas, but in 1845 Giuseppe Garibaldi reconquered for Montevideo. In 1852 the Confederation was returned to Argentina.

At the end of s. XIX, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento proposed found in the island city Argiropolis as capital of a state that would bring together, at least, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. After the Conquest of the Desert-called formally launched in 1879, many Indian leaders captured were confined there. Since 1886 was the jurisdiction of the Navy. During the early twentieth century the island became famous as the place of confinement of prominent politicians or presidents overthrown, as Hipolito Yrigoyen (1930), Juan Domingo Peron (1,945) and Arturo Frondizi (1962).

Regarding the population of the island, Martin Garcia once had a population of 4,000, but decreased with time and the stable population in 2008 was less than 170 people (50 families).
The various battles and plagues that ravaged the area have left a considerable amount of dead.






PICTURES TAKEN BY ME



Part shared between Argentina and Uruguay under the Treaty of Rio de la Plata (1,973).







Trails and roads in the middle of the island seem to lead nowhere.







Film - Theater of the island of Martin Garcia: place where the military were to
hang out, years in which the island was a military base.










The Film - Theatre inside.










Entrance to the island prison where they were imprisoned, among others, Presidents Peron, Frondizi and Yrigoyen.




The prison inside.




The prison on the outside.




"In this historic site was held from the 13th October to 17th October 1945, three times President of the Argentine Constitution, then Colonel Juan Domingo Peron."

---------

Dr. Antonio Cafiero - Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires.




Historic bakery: in this place, founded in 1913, are manufactured traditional sweet bread on the island. They are handmade and was the place where prisoners were put to work in their manufacture. There are still sold today, and are a delight.







Main Street: the only 2 vehicles that were on the island were the you see in the picture, and an old ford falcon. No cars, no traffic... Silence.












Now we're going to the legends.

This is one of the images generated by both mystery, in which one can see the slope of one arm of the crosses. Note that the horizontal arm (which has to be horizontal), most of the crosses is tilted sideways, ie is not horizontal but one side pointing up and down and no other always point to the same place. It is a mystery that has not yet been resolved, although there are several theories that told me the the local and on which I noted and then investigated.







As I had said, the island owes its name to Martin Garcia who was the steward of the vessel commanded by Solis and had died on arrival at the island. The Martin Garcia was the first Christian burial in the territory of what later became the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, so that the island has the oldest Christian tomb of the country.

Despite its small territory, the island had throughout its history 4 cemeteries of which 3 have disappeared because, since it opened today, others were abandoned by the advancing water. And there were in the area now intangible, Indian Cemetery and the old cemetery with their dead forgotten and erased from history.

This feeds the stories and legends tell of incomprehensible things that occur on the island. The locals claim that they hear noises at night, heard screaming and crying in the wilderness of the island, which is often heard howling like a wolf and there are no wolves, and other mysteries.

But the strangest thing is perhaps not what happens in the old abandoned cemeteries, but what he shows now inclined crosses. To the right or left, many graves have these characteristics in their crosses. Tombs dated between 1,848 to 1,914, some of them, the oldest, moved from the old cemetery.

Notice that in this picture you can see the date and name of the deceased conscript and the inclination of the cross.




Says: "Conscript to 23 (...) - Avelino Garcia - April 4, 1914 - RIP"



There are also Michel Lefolcavez, lieutenant, of French origin, who died on December 23, 1848, or Artillery Lt. Alfredo D'Abelio Oliverira, who died in 1891, both originally buried in the old cemetery, and many conscripts who died on the island, either at a time closer to the early twentieth century, or in times more remote in time.

All, without apparent connection with their crosses and tombstones inclined. The why of that inclination is a mystery. There is no written or oral testimony on the subject. Then weave the most varied and most far-fetched conjecture foundations that claim to be serious but end up being absurd.




One of the arguments that explain this phenomenon is trying to be "serious" claims that the mold in which the crosses were made was distorted, and that being on an island and away from land, you could not change the mold one day to another and then the crosses were made using what could and what they had on hand. This argument, according to the villager, is unsustainable as it is only necessary to look at the dates of construction (ranging from 1848 to 1914), and it is possible that they had been 66 years with the same cast failed, also created in these crosses is same time do not have a sloping side, while others, created the same year, if you have it.

Another argument developed by skeptics is that it is just an artistic expression. But under the same arguments as in the previous case, is somewhat untenable because if it is the same "artist", why did you decide to do, in the same year and just as scarce days of difference between a death and another, a inclined crosses and others not?.

Some argue that it is to represent the mood of the inhabitants of the island, and that such an inclination would be the representation of loneliness and abandonment which crossed the island. The question is, some were happy and others were sad?. Because if not, why not have a bent arm and sometimes not.

The theory seems to have more support among skeptics argued that these graves with crosses inclined belong to deceased by pests such as yellow fever, which is the honoring or remembering is somehow to be victims of that scourge and, moreover, warned that there were bodies in those graves that could potentially infect others, and these crosses served as a warning to stay away from them. But history has also left inherte that theory, since it was in Buenos Aires where yellow fever caused more damage than any other area and there is no cross with a bent arm or as a tribute or as a warning, knowing well In Buenos Aires the danger of possible infection was higher than the number of people much more than the population of the island of Martin Garcia.

There are theories of skeptics which include political and religious issues (politics and the church are everywhere), and these theories hold that these crosses were used to identify the socialist followers of Charles Fourier (creator of utopian socialism), which was contrary and critic of Catholicism, and those who are inclined to the left symbolize the socialist followers of Fourier and Marx and those who are inclined to the right represent the capitalists and imperialists. Others say it is a ritual of Freemasonry and thus identified the deceased Masons, also contrary to Catholicism, or that indicated in this way those who had been discovered professing some sort of ritual belonging to satanic cults logically contrary to Catholicism. The truth is that the crosses of the deceased Masons, worldwide, are not inclined but are normal. And there is worldwide evidence that those with leftist ideals were buried in graves with crosses slopes.








Also some religious have given their opinion on the matter based on arguments and relating esclesiásticos the reality of the island argue that these crosses are based on the "Orthodox cross," which has three rails. 2 are is flat and one, the bottom, is tilted with one end pointing up and one down. The latter represents the elevation cross the sky and the condemnation of hell. It is represented in this cross to the 2 men who were crucified with Jesus Dimas-the "good thief" - and Gestas-the "bad thief" - as claimed by the Apocrypha.

One of them repented for their sins and asked forgiveness, and he was raised to the heavens and therefore one end pointing up, and the other did not repent of their sins and asked for forgiveness and he was sent to hell, when we have the meaning the other end pointing down.

Knowing then that the island of Martin Garcia was used for many years as a prison, reasoning that could be reached in the graves with crosses with arms bent criminals are buried. But neither is valid because there are graves with crosses bent belonging to people who were not criminals (as conscripts, Lieutenants of Ships, Lieutenant of Artillery, etc..).





Orthodox Cross as the Apocryphal Gospel.






Legend still lives a couple whose son, a conscript in the sea, died on the island and was buried there in a common grave with a common cross not long ago. The parents of the deceased went regularly to mourn his son tuba and after susecivas visits were noticing that the cross appeared every day a little more tilted towards consisted, until, over time, they noticed that the inclination was total . Worried authorities resorted to asking for explanations of the island but no one gave them an answer they think fit, because everyone said it was normal, that was common was going on there and there was a reason: it had simply gone well in the history, and still going today.

Alerted by the situation and the myths that had reached their ears, and suffered the disbelief of the people around them who could not believe them that told him, decided to go to "unorthodox methods" as the collaboration of mediums, from manosantas, sorcerers and even a Catholic priest. But no one gave them a solution.

Immersed in the fear that caused this situation, the deceased's parents decided to visit less regularly Cemetery Martin Garcia until finally stopped going. As they say, back in the fiftieth year, the young parents were last the cemetery. They were walking in solitude and silence of the island on a fall morning a lot of sun, and they did not dare to visit the place on gray or afternoon for fear that takes hold at night and the terror produced see the neglect of the cemetery and the dismal aspect of the island. As they approached the grave of her son and went to the heart of the cemetery adentrando, were surrounded by graves with crosses bent and thought they saw that as they advanced, the crosses were going around tilting more and more. Quickened their pace and on reaching the grave of his son noticed that the grave next to a branch had fallen and had a break ocacionado enormous. Motivated by curiosity, came slowly to see what was inside ...

The few locals who were on the island heard a deafening scream and within minutes they saw the couple who came running to the dock without saying a word. Nobody knew what they saw, but after that horrible episode never seen again on the island.

He says parents of the deceased, to not let the memory of his abandoned son, a kind of monolith erected in a private cemetery in Buenos Aires who had to visit often. This monolith was crowned with a large wooden cross made by the deceased's father. Regularly visited him and brought him flowers until one evening they met with a surprise which filled them with panic and horror: the cross of the monolith was bent like the tomb of the island of Martin Garcia. That episode was the final blow. Never again that marriage might leave flowers or go to mourn the loss of his son.

Today only a piece of stone is damaged by the passage of time in which there is less to distinguish the name of the deceased and which can be read only part of a date: "April 14 1.9 ...".





Myths or realities crazy incomprehensible? Let everyone take it as you like but the reality is that there is still no certain answers about this mystery.





The night on the island is very dark. Imagine that there are many lights or even because it is a city and no vehicles. Only a few lights in a house here or what was the regiment of soldiers, some people lanterns and flashlights are camping out of each one.

The silence that there is impressive. Only hear the sound of water, the horrible singing of some owls and the sound of the writhing treetops. It's like to film a horror movie.







Surprising inventions to attract tourists, chance, customs of the time, paranormal mysteries ... I do not know what the explanation, but the mystery is real and exists. There is no explanation. No papers, no documents, no evidence, no statements, no historical evidence or anything, at least to date-that it can exclarecer unknown.




In this tent we slept.



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